diff --git a/src/gui/components/_legacy.py b/src/gui/components/_legacy.py
index 349a991..a516306 100644
--- a/src/gui/components/_legacy.py
+++ b/src/gui/components/_legacy.py
@@ -60,83 +60,29 @@ header[data-testid="stHeader"] {
 footer {
     display: none !important;
 }
-/* Reclaim top padding lost from hidden header. Slim the bottom too —
-   Streamlit's default leaves several rems below the last widget. */
+/* Reclaim top padding lost from hidden header. */
 .stAppViewBlockContainer,
 [data-testid="stAppViewBlockContainer"] {
-    padding-top: 0.5rem !important;
-    padding-bottom: 0.75rem !important;
+    padding-top: 1rem !important;
 }
 /* Scale content to fit app window */
 .stApp {
     zoom: 0.85;
 }
-
-/* ---------- Compact-spacing layer ---------- */
-/* Streamlit ships generous vertical rhythm (~1rem gap between every
-   block, 1.5rem+ above each heading, 1rem on dividers). For a desktop
-   data app that's a lot of empty space. Tighten the gaps without
-   making the layout look cramped. */
-
-/* Gap between stacked elements inside a vertical block (the default
-   container around most page content). */
-[data-testid="stVerticalBlock"] {
-    gap: 0.5rem !important;
-}
-[data-testid="stHorizontalBlock"] {
-    gap: 0.5rem !important;
-}
-
-/* Headings — tighter top space + a hair less below. */
-.stApp h1 { margin-top: 0.25rem !important; margin-bottom: 0.5rem !important; }
-.stApp h2 { margin-top: 0.5rem  !important; margin-bottom: 0.4rem !important; }
-.stApp h3 { margin-top: 0.4rem  !important; margin-bottom: 0.3rem !important; }
-.stApp h4 { margin-top: 0.3rem  !important; margin-bottom: 0.25rem !important; }
-
-/* st.divider() — Streamlit's default hr has 1rem above and below. */
-[data-testid="stMarkdownContainer"] hr,
-hr {
-    margin-top: 0.4rem !important;
-    margin-bottom: 0.4rem !important;
-}
-
-/* Markdown paragraphs — slim trailing space. */
-[data-testid="stMarkdownContainer"] p {
-    margin-bottom: 0.25rem;
-}
-
-/* Captions — slim trailing space. */
-[data-testid="stCaption"],
-[data-testid="stCaptionContainer"] {
-    margin-bottom: 0.25rem;
-}
-
-/* Expander header padding — Streamlit's default is roomy. */
-[data-testid="stExpander"] details > summary {
-    padding-top: 0.35rem;
-    padding-bottom: 0.35rem;
-}
-
-/* Button row inside columns — tighter top space. */
-[data-testid="stButton"],
-[data-testid="stDownloadButton"] {
-    margin-top: 0;
-    margin-bottom: 0;
-}
-
-/* File-uploader internal spacing. */
-[data-testid="stFileUploader"] {
-    margin-bottom: 0.25rem;
-}
-
-/* Metric tiles — Streamlit pads them generously inside a row. */
-[data-testid="stMetric"] {
-    padding-top: 0.25rem;
-    padding-bottom: 0.25rem;
-}
 </style>
 """
 
+# NOTE: The aggressive compact-spacing layer (gap reductions on
+# stVerticalBlock / stHorizontalBlock, slim heading margins, slim hr,
+# slim caption / expander / button / metric padding) is temporarily
+# DISABLED while bisecting the "blank pages" report. The
+# ``gap: 0.5rem !important;`` on ``stVerticalBlock`` in particular is
+# a known suspect — if Streamlit's vertical container isn't a flex
+# layout in the user's Streamlit version, the rule is no-op (harmless)
+# but if it interacts badly with overflow rules content can clip.
+# Toggle this back on once the user confirms the bare chrome restores
+# page rendering.
+
 
 def hide_streamlit_chrome(*, gate_license: bool = True) -> None:
     """Inject CSS to hide Streamlit's default header, menu, and footer.
@@ -182,15 +128,21 @@ def hide_streamlit_chrome(*, gate_license: bool = True) -> None:
         require_license_or_render_activation,
     )
     render_license_status_sidebar()
-    # Wrapped — a broken audit-log or filesystem permission issue must
-    # NOT kill the page-body render. Errors print to stderr so the
-    # developer can still see what went wrong.
-    try:
-        _render_diagnostics_sidebar()
-    except Exception:
-        import traceback, sys
-        print("DataTools: diagnostics sidebar render failed:", file=sys.stderr)
-        traceback.print_exc()
+    # Diagnostics sidebar is temporarily disabled while bisecting the
+    # "blank pages" report. The chrome runs on every page, so anything
+    # that fails here drops every page's body. Wrapping it caught
+    # exceptions but a silent partial-render (e.g. an open ``with
+    # st.sidebar:`` context that never closes cleanly because of an
+    # internal Streamlit hiccup) could still poison subsequent
+    # rendering. Toggle this back on once the user confirms the bare
+    # chrome restores page rendering.
+    if False:
+        try:
+            _render_diagnostics_sidebar()
+        except Exception:
+            import traceback, sys
+            print("DataTools: diagnostics sidebar render failed:", file=sys.stderr)
+            traceback.print_exc()
     if gate_license:
         require_license_or_render_activation()
 
@@ -539,7 +491,24 @@ html_download_button = local_download_button
 
 
 def render_sticky_footer() -> None:
-    """Render a slim fixed-position footer at the bottom of the viewport.
+    """TEMPORARILY DISABLED while we bisect the "blank pages" report.
+
+    The sticky-footer mechanism (CSS-injection + a components-html
+    iframe that appends a div to ``window.parent.document.body``) is
+    the most likely culprit for content disappearing — if either the
+    CSS or the iframe interacts badly with the user's Streamlit /
+    Python build, the side effects could be invisible on the
+    developer machine but page-killing on theirs.
+
+    Re-enable by removing this early return once we've confirmed pages
+    render again with the footer off. The original body is preserved
+    below so the fix is a one-line revert.
+    """
+    return  # noqa: E501 — bisection short-circuit; see commit notes
+
+
+def _render_sticky_footer_DISABLED() -> None:
+    """Slim fixed-position footer at the bottom of the viewport.
 
     Contains a "Back to Home" link that's always visible regardless of
     scroll position. The footer is mounted as a direct child of